Voraussetzungen:
The volunteer needs to be flexible. Sometimes he/she will work from 9till 17 o'clock, sometimes from 11 till 19 o 'clock. There will be amaximum of 30 hours a week. We expect also some flexibility towards the tasks. A normal day canturn into something completely different because of unexpected things.Experience has taught us that this is not always easy for a volunteer;thus it is important to be flexible towards changes in the workschedule as well as to be a good communicator in order to function wellin this context.

In this context it is also important that the volunteer likes workingin a team, as the team in Fedasil is quite big. It will be a challengeto find your place on the work floor, to have a healthy relationshipwith the youngsters while not loosing touch with the staff and stayingon the same wavelength as your colleagues?Because of these challenges, the volunteer will be followed up closely.However, we expect the volunteer to be able to take initiative whennecessary an dto be able to work independently within a large team.

In general, it is very important that the volunteer has a matureattitude, as it is not always easy for young people without any workexperience to maintain a professional attitude towards the residents. We expect from a volunteer the ability to cope with possibledifficulties having to do with the specific characteristics of thegroup. This group of people is an amalgam of ages, cultures, languages,religions, backgrounds, problems, … Only one thing they all have incommon: they have fled their own country and are staying only temporaryin the centre. Therefore the volunteer needs to be open for othercultures and prepared to work with people of other cultures. The volunteer will have to respect (and undersign) the same houserulesas the people who live and work in the refugee centre. A copy of theserules will be given at the beginning of the placement. We also ask thevolunteer to respect the professional ethical code for social workers.

AFS, the coordinating host organisation, strongly believes in theintercultural learning aspect of an EVS-experience. Therefore, thevolunteer will be living with a volunteer host family, as we believethis is the best introduction to Flemish culture and a greatopportunity to integrate in the local community. Candidates should bewilling to share in the host family's daily life (spend some free timewith them, occasionally join the family on activities outside thehouse, eat together, give a helping hand in the household... ) andshould be motivated to live with and learn about Flemish people ofdifferent ages and opinions. They should also be willing to adapt tothe local eating habits. On the other hand, we guarantee a family thatis interested to learn about your culture and background and thatrespects your values and beliefs. Living in a host family is anexcellent opportunity for both you and the family to broaden yourcultural horizons! Candidates who are not sure this suits their profile are advised to getin touch with someone who has experience with living in a host family.If you already know you prefer to live independently, please refrainfrom applying for this project.

Projektbeschreibung:

The Organisation:

Fedasil's mission is to organise the humane, efficient, flexible andhigh-quality reception of asylum seekers in Belgium. The humane andrespectful treatment of asylum seekers has first consideration. Thenumber of asylum applications can vary sharply depending on theinternational political and economic situation. As an efficient andflexible organisation, Fedasil must be quick at repartee to anticipateand respond to changing reception needs. Finally, the quality ofreception must at the very least comply with European standards.

In January 2001 the federal government decided that asylum seekerswould receive material support only in reception structures. Previouslythey had also received financial support. The creation of Fedasil is aconsequence of that decision. Fedasil has recently been assigned afresh task:· coordinating reception of unaccompanied foreign minors

The centre in Steenokkerzeel is the first reception centre in Belgiumfor unaccompanied foreign minors (UFA). Those minors are notnecessarily asylum seekers. The UFA are youngsters who arriveunaccompanied by parents or other adult relatives in Belgium. Theseminors left their country of origin and their family, and ended up bytheirselves or with "strangers" in Belgium. These youngsters haveseveral characteristics in common: they are alone, they speak adifferent language, they grew up in another culture, they are minor(usually adolescent), they left their country of origin and the factthat their stay in Belgium is temporary, makes their situation veryuncertain.

The minors can stay in the centre for two weeks. Sometimes the durationis prolonged. We have a maximum capacity of 50 persons. This briefaccomodation has several consequences. The youngsters are not enrolledas students in a school. We do want to make their day look like a dayof an average Belgian minor. This means that the centre organisesseveral activities during the day. Intensive language courses help theyoungsters to express themselves and to communicate with Belgianpeople. In courses about general social orientation subjects they learnthe elementary things about our society. Sports related activitiesserve as a positive release. We also set up a lot of workshops and weorganise excursions to Belgian places of interest.

The centre has three big responsibilities.

1. gathering of information: in close consultation with the partnerservices, we try to find out if the youngster is indeed a minor, if theminor has or can receive identity papers, if the youngster is indeedunaccompanied.2.observation: we try to create an image of the lifestory of every youngster by observing them in activities and consultation.3.orientation: together with the caretaker we search the most suited residence for the minor.

Steenokkerzeel is situated near Brussels. It is a rather smallcommunity that can be reached by bus from Brussel North. There are notso many possibilities to go out. There are some bars and a good sporthall with all facilities. The nearest big cities are Brussels(capital) and Leuven( astudentscity). Brussels is the capital of Belgium and it is thepolitical and economical centre of the country. Also a lot of EuropeanAdministrations are based in Brussels, which makes it a verymulticultural city. In Brussels the two official languages are Dutchand French.Brussels is easily reachable by public transport. The cityhas three main train stations. The public transport is well organised. Since we opened the centre for non-accompanied minors in June 2005, wehave hosted one EVS-volunteer. She helped during activities (creativeand sports), organised lessons in her own language, accompanied theyoungsters during trips, had personal contact with the youngsters andoften helped to translate conversations between staff and a youngster.

The Project:

The volunteer will be given the opportunity to work in an internationalenvironment for a longer period of time. He/she can attain knowledgeabout the specifics procedures for minors in Belgium, he/she workstogether with a multidisciplinary team, he/she attains lifewisdom bycontact with the residents of the centre.We work already in an international environnement and are interested tosee how foreign volunteers deal with the specific problems of the issueof the minors. We believe that hosting an EVS volunteer is a benefitfor us (the staff and the minors) as well for the volunteer. We are used to the Belgian structures. For us a foreign volunteers meana new perspective, a new vision. For the minors it is a sign that weare internationally interested. This can already have a positive effectby their arrival in the centre. The issue of asylumseekers and refugeesis momentary very actual in Europe. It would be interesting to show theBelgian policy about asylum seekers to the foreign volunteer. This isinteresting for the volunteer too. We can talk about the differences ineach others country. This can be very enriching for both parties!

1. education 35% : language classes (perhaps the volunteer can teachhis/her language) - computer courses - information for non-accompaniedminors - study help for the school children - general socialorientation subjects - in th efuture we want to organise computerclasses 2. recreation 35%: music - sports - events - activities for specific target groups (girls,…) - library 3. 'domestic' tasks 20%: following up logistics (waking up of theminors, opening/closing of the rooms) - helping out in the second-handshop - normally we don't have to cook (external company), but in thefuture we want to organise cooking activities - helping out withregistration and distribution of meals 4. individual assistance 10%: every social worker has a closer contactwith a certain number of minors. Every week several hours are spent forindividual counsel and for listening to worries of the minors. Thevolunteer will also be encouraged to seek a closer contact with some ofthe minors who live here, if possible and/or desired. For the people inour centre closer contact means a great deal. They really need thespecial attention.

Average of 30 hours a week·Weekdays hours: we work in shifts, from 8 am to 4 pm and from 2 pm to 10 pm. Of course we are willing to come to a special agreement with the volunteer according to his/her wishes and possibilities.·Evening hours: to be discussed with the volunteer (see above).·Saturday hours: /·Sunday hours: /The volunteer will work about 30 hours a week in the center.The volunteer has two days off for each month he/she works. This means 12 days off for 6 months.